Jai Ho | Bollywood Film | Hindi Movie | Personal Reviews

Are we fed-up of corruption in the system and we are eager to change it? Are some of the recent revolutions (or initiatives) the result of the anger of the common man against the system and the society?

Surely we do not like to live in the world where truth doesn’t triumph. But this is true until any of our personal interest is not served due to manipulated the system. Actually we are at some extent responsible for the corrupt system as well.

And we think for some savior to come and change the stuff overnight, give us all the joy and positive vibes, take away our sorrows and hurdles! Aren’t we (well majority of us) doing it in majority of our prayers too!

The thing is we want the perfect system and we do not want to sacrifice anything from our side. And if you think from an individual’s point of view, his/her personal interests are more important to him/her then the other stuff! The ideal conditions are respective for most of the people.

Anyway, there are people who stand tall against the wrongdoings and even supported by the society. The story of Jai Ho, one of the latest Bollywood film revolves around the protagonist named Jay Agnihotri, who is such a person.

Some of the incidents are inspired from recent political happenings mainly in India. The movie also has the entertainment quotient as well. There are some flaws in the movie which let you down as well.

One thing we worried about is to find absurd humors in the film, which is avoided, and it is good. The film is definitely an attempt to take on to the corrupt system which is manipulated by the people in power, as per their convenience and personal interest. The other good thing we must mention is Salman Khan plays the protagonist and it is his home production movie but still avoids mentioning his Being Human initiative, in the film. Usually it is tough to overcome the temptation to grab an opportunity to advertise one’s own good stuff, when it perfectly fits with the content of the film. We remember there are blockbuster movies which had advertise some cold-drinks and other brands 🙂

Salman Khan is not a great actor but he is convincing in the role. His efforts pays off. He can look funny at time when needed, for example, the colorful goggles he can carry with so ease can be otherwise tough for other actors (exception Govinda). The movie relies on his star power of course, the but the content (story/screenplay/cinematography) is also a positive aspect of the film.

Naman Jain is first rate as the nephew of Salman Khan. This is another good performance by this kid after Chillar Party.

Actually this movie brings in some of the actors which are not seen much these days in small/important/cameo roles. Tabu is one such actress. She plays Jay’s sister in the film and she did the good job as she mostly does in her movies. Mahesh Thakur is good as her husband. Sunil Shetty is in Cameo as an army officer and leaves impact. Recently he was seen in Ennemy; a film which was failed being a blockbuster. Daisy Shah is confident but needs to work on various aspects.

Mahesh Manjarekar is good in the role of a rikshaw-wala. We see Sameer Khakkhar after a long in a movie. His portrayal of Khopdi in Hindi TV serial Nukkad was fantastic. He have a very small role in the film, but he makes his presence felt. We are not much fond of Santosh Shukla as an actor, and we wrote it in our reviews for Kahani Chandrakanta Ki. He made us to think otherwise in this film. Yash Tonk is there in the small role and so do Sana Khan, Nadira Babbar and others. Who could have think of Genelia playing character of a handicapped girl? She is good, her role could have been more effective.

A hero cannot steal the show till he have competent villain right? We see the fantastic actor Danny Denzongpa in the role of the main antagonist. He is known to do less films but when he does, he makes his presence felt. Haroon Qazi is good as well. He may not be very good in acting, but in the climax fight, he proves a match to Salman. Mukul Dev is in a small role, his get up is getting typical this days. What is Tulip Joshi doing in this movie?

Sohail did a nice job as the director by controlling himself doing some nasty stuff. But the good efforts loss in midway when too much of action takes place. And he lost control of the movie a little more when the movie tries showing the common man as the superhero. The comic relief is also made on Naman’s take on the leading lady’s underwear!

Some scenes are effective though. For example, when Tabu is humiliated in the mall (shopping place) by the villain by tearing for the shirt of a guy – the message he want to convey and the responsive fear in Tabu’s eyes – it is one of the benchmark scenes. The music of the movie is above average. The flavor of Gujarat and Gujarati music is seen in the album. The dialogs are good at places.

The nice thought to carry forward the help you have received is influenced from Kevin Spacey starrer Pay It Forward in this official remake of Stalin. The another backdrop is larger than the life actions. The hero if represents a common man – he cannot have the capability to punch a car and stop it!!! Of course. This happens when one try merge two separate (incompatible) streams into one.

The other major attribute which people like to see in the movie is emotional bonding. It is in-place in the film for some relations and situations, but there are a lot of places where it fail making the audience emotional. For such movie, the actual success is if one remember the emotions shown in the movie, when he walk out of the theater. This movie doesn’t offer that at the extent it should.

The story is simple. Salman plays Jay Agnihotri. An ex-army officer, who expelled for not following orders. His intention were good though. He is just a call away, when someone needs him. He always stand for the good stuff and he is generous at heart. He was also taken advantage of by his friends in small stuff (Eg. he takes care of the kids even in theaters when his friends enjoy watching movie). But he have some genuine, think-alike buddies who stand by him in all his good efforts. His – fighting for the truth – makes him crossing his path with a cunning and brutal politician and his family. And yes, there is a love story running in parelel as well.

Overall a movie made by having good content as the base, struggles holding too much stuff and too much attention towards the commercial aspects prevents it from being a masterpiece. Though, the movie is a good watch. It is not as bad as several critics cried.